Suspect in Murder, Rape Wants Hearing : Crime: Man held in Oregon jail demands that officials prove he is the suspect sought by Torrance police. They say he is stalling.

In what officials describe as a “stall tactic,” a man being held in Oregon for allegedly murdering a Torrance man and raping and shooting the man’s wife has demanded that authorities prove he is the same suspect being sought by California police.

But Oregon officials and Torrance police agree that Randy Eugene Garcia, the man in custody, is the suspect they are after and that he eventually will be sent back to face charges in the case.

“I can assure you that sooner or later we are going to get him back to California,” Torrance Police Lt. Wally Murker said.

Torrance police said Garcia, 22, an Oregon resident, was the man who entered a Torrance home through an unlocked door May 8 and tied up and sexually assaulted Lynn Finzel, 28, as her 6-month-old daughter slept in a nearby room. Using one of the Finzels’ guns, Garcia allegedly shot and killed the woman’s husband, Joseph Finzel, 29, when he returned home, then shot the bound woman and ransacked the house. Lynn Finzel survived by playing dead. The child was not injured.

Police said Garcia took jewelry, credit cards and other items from the Finzel home and then stole the couple’s pickup truck, which was found abandoned half a mile from the crime scene. Evidence in the truck linked Garcia to the crime, police said, but they would not describe that evidence.

Four days later Garcia was captured in Oregon and has been held there without bail in a Washington County jail. Although Garcia has not officially said he will fight extradition to California, Oregon officials said, he has requested an “identity hearing.”

“We’ll simply be putting on some evidence to indicate why we believe this Randy Eugene Garcia is the Randy Eugene Garcia that (California) wants,” said Bob Hermann, chief deputy district attorney in Washington County.

Hermann said the evidence could include police mug shots of Garcia, one of which was identified by Lynn Finzel in a photo lineup. Garcia has a history of burglary arrests in Oregon and was wanted for a probation violation there when he was arrested on the murder charge.

Garcia’s lawyer in Oregon, public defender Anne Tracey, was not available for comment on why Garcia requested an identity hearing. Hermann speculated that it may be an effort to gain more time while deciding whether to fight extradition.

If Garcia refuses to return to California, Gov. Pete Wilson’s office would have to send a “governor’s warrant” to Oregon requesting his extradition. Such requests are routinely granted, Oregon and California officials said, but the process can take up to two months.